In an act of extreme tangent tying, former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson just penned an op‐​ed linking Donald Trump’s wall‐​building immigration stance to his attacks on the Common Core national curriculum standards. The message Richardson may be trying to send: bigots don’t want Hispanics in the country, or able to access “high academic standards” when they’re here.


I’ll let others debate Trump’s motives, but I can speak for myself—and probably the vast majority of Core opponents—that none of my opposition to the Core is based on anti‐​Hispanic sentiment or a desire to keep anyone down. It is rooted only in the concerns I have constantly expressed: having a single, federally driven set of standards would stifle innovation; makes little sense considering that all children are unique individuals; and has no meaningful research backing. Others believe that the Core simply is not a good enough set of standards.


Richardson offers no evidence to refute any of the highly substantive objections that have been made for years and have helped render the Core a largely bipartisan pariah. He just pronounces that the standards “equip students with the critical thinking and problem‐​solving skills that are essential to success in the 21st‐​century economy.” Then he attacks Trump again.


Far too often Core defenders have ignored powerful, important objections—and dodged serious debate—in favor of caricaturing Core opponents. Awkwardly tying Core opposition to anti‐​Hispanic animus seems to be more of the same.